


Empty the Shelters Day

by RebaK1tten



Series: Holidays with Venom [9]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Eddie and Anne becoming friends, Empty the Shelters Day, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Other, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 13:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20292451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebaK1tten/pseuds/RebaK1tten
Summary: Venom wants a dog, and doesn't even plan to eat it.





	Empty the Shelters Day

It’s way too early for the doorbell, but if someone is stupid enough to want to see him at nine in the morning on a Saturday, it’s their own fault.

Eddie opens the door, cup of coffee in his hand. It’s a hard decision, but scratching his balls through his boxers is probably overkill.

“Eddie!” Anne pushes her way past him, shaking her head. “You’re supposed to be ready to go to the shelter. Venom said they’d be sure you’re dressed.”

Now that he thinks about it, his partner has been absent this morning. Absent and quiet, two things that don’t equal Venom.

“Vee?”

Things are strangely silent and Anne stands grinning.

“Venom, I think now isn’t the time to be silent for once.”

Anne watches as Venom’s head pokes from Eddie’s chest; he doesn’t look as dangerous like this, although it’s almost weirder to see this than it is to see him turn into a giant whatever-he-is.

Perspective, right?

**Anne! Would you like some coffee?** Venom asks, tentacles moving into the kitchen, quickly returning with the coffee pot, carton of cream, mug and packets of sweetner. Eddie couldn’t have done better.

“I guess so, sure, since Eddie’s not ready. And you two clearly need to talk,” she says. She takes the cup and lets Venom pull out the stool by the kitchen bar. “This is new, isn’t it? I like this.”

“Well, I figured it’s hard to eat a steak on the couch, so, yeah. I’ve bought a couple of things to make the place more…” he shrugs and looks around their new flat. “It’s home, you know.”

Anne smiles, and pulls over a baking pan covered with aluminum foil. “I’m glad you moved; Dan and I both are. This is a much nicer place to visit and we don’t need to worry about you so much.”

“Those are peanut butter, banana and bacon bars.” Eddie says, glaring at the symbiote still sticking out of his chest. “Because it was some kind of Elvis holiday yesterday and _that _one we talked about. No one tried to get tricky and sneak something in.”

Venom wraps around his neck like a living scarf, rubbing his face against Eddie’s stubble. **Not sneaky, we talked about this. It would be nice to have something else here with us.**

“You talked about. And I told you no. This is still a small duplex and we don’t have room for another pet.”

Eddie finds himself looking into a much larger Venom, with teeth starting to show. **Not a pet.**

It’s a low blow, but he can’t help himself. “Parasite.”

There’s suddenly a lot of teeth in front of his face and Eddie feels the anger in his chest**. And not a parasite!**

Trust Anne to be the voice of reason. “Boys! Boys, let’s take it down a notch, okay? No name calling, discussions are good.” She takes a bar from the baking tray, wrinkling her nose as she sniffs it. “If you don’t want to get a dog, you don’t need to. I’m getting a cat to keep Mr. Belvedere company.”

Eddie can’t help but snort. “Mr. Belvedere wants company? He hates everyone.”

“Actually…” She sighs and sips her coffee. “He really seems to like Dan, okay? I’ve been replaced; he spends his evenings sitting by Dan, he sleeps on Dan’s legs.” She shrugs, and admits, “He’s Dan’s cat, apparently. So I said I wanted someone to sit with me at night, and Dan agreed. I want to get someone maybe a little older. We’ll see who seems right. And hope Mr. B. can tolerate him.”

Slumping down on the sofa, Eddie sighs. “Get out here, Vee, let’s talk about this like adults. Or whatever.” He waits until the familiar face is in front of him, but not too close. There’s still a bit of suspicion there from earlier. That needs fixing first thing. “I’m sorry I called you a parasite, but you know we can’t have a dog here. You _eat_ dogs, remember?”

**You told me I can’t eat dogs and I never have. Not since then. And we _can_ have a dog here. It has to be under 30 pounds, you call the manager and pay a five-hundred dollar deposit. **

“Someone’s done their research,” Anne says, pouring herself more coffee as she hides her grin. “There’s plenty of dogs under 30 pounds, Eddie. And you do like dogs.”

“I don’t want some little purse dog.” Eddie holds out his mug and Anne fills his cup, too. “It has to be something that doesn’t make me look like, like a society debutante or something.”

She’s not even trying to hide her grin now. “No dog in your purse, good call.”

**There are terriers and spaniels! Although terriers have a lot of energy. **Venom shoves his phone in front of Eddie, with pictures of dog breeds pulled up. **We will ask who is good for a small house. This is a small house, Eddie, not just an apartment.**

“It’s gonna seem smaller with a dog in it,” Eddie says, but he flips through pictures, smiling as he looks at some a little longer than others. “And, if I have to go out of town for work, who’s going to take care of this dog of yours?”

Before Anne can roll her eyes, Venom wraps around his neck again, looking at the pictures. **Ashley and Jennifer next door would. **White eyes look at Anne and Venom explains,** They live in the other side of the house next to us. They had a cat, but he went to college and they’d like another animal, but it takes time and they want to be ready. **

“College?” Anne asks Eddie, hoping for a reasonable answer.

“Their cat died, but they say ‘college’ so it’s not so bad.” He pushes the phone away and stands, looking at the symbiote in his large, blank eyes. “So if we get a dog – and it’s still an if – I get the final decision since I know dogs and you only know what you’ve seen on television. We’ll look for a mutt of some kind.”

**Yes, Eddie** and their smile grows, along with the warmth in Eddie’s chest.

“And I get final decision on its name,” Eddie states and there’s an extra wiggle, but no argument. At least for now, Eddie knows that’ll come later.

“So do we have a plan?” Anne asks. She snatches Eddie’s mug and takes both into the kitchen, washing them out and putting them on the dish rack. “I get a cat and you two – you one – you’ll look for the right dog for your lives, right? And, Eddie, if you need to borrow the deposit money…”

“We’re good, but thanks.” Venom nods and pulls Eddie off the sofa, dragging them both towards the bedroom. “So, okay, Annie, looks like I’m going to get dressed and then we can go and mess up a couple of animals’ lives.”

“Shower, then you dress,” she calls out to the back of his head.

Eddie stops and turns around, shaking a finger at her. “Nuh-uh. You’re not the fiancé or girlfriend anymore and you came to _my_ house on a Saturday morning. You’re lucky I’m even going to put on deodorant.”

**Car windows down! **Venom yells as Eddie takes them both into the bedroom.

“What is my life?” Annie asks herself and picks up one of the “Elvis” bars. “Sounds like a mess, but…” she takes a taste and snorts quietly. “Not that bad at all.”


End file.
